By Justin Rowland
Josh Clark has extensive experience in the recruiting world and he's able to offer a unique, insightful take on new UK quarterback commitment Mac Jones.
Clark is the founder of GAIN Sports. His purpose for the company is to help families and student-athletes identify best opportunities and resources to aid their athletic development, high school experience, and college recruitment. The company leads an extended bus tour during the summer taking promising football prospects to various college camps throughout the Southeast and Atlantic coast.
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| Mac Jones impressed Kentucky with his release. |
Clark's history with Jones began more than a year ago in the spring of 2014 as the quarterback was finishing his freshman year of high school. Jones signed up for GAIN Sports' bus tour and that turned out to help Jones receive a lot of exposure as a young, inexperienced high school player. In fact, the bus tour led Shannon Dawson to discover Jones, which began a sequence of events that couldn't have been predicted but led Jones to commit to Kentucky on Monday.
"My first introduction to Mac was spending 10 nights on the road with him, taking him to several different colleges," Clark told Cats Illustrated. "Not having met Mac beforehand, when he arrived on the bus he didn't scream out as a "young phenom", but sure enough once we started the camps he really stood out and that was among some good, elder high school quarterbacks we had with us. Our tour included a stop at West Virginia's camp. West Virginia's camp was the last on our tour. It was the tenth day and our guys were extremely fatigued by that point. Mac was really kind of discouraged about participating in camp that day because it had been a long trip."
In hindsight Clark wonders whether that trip was too grueling, and in fact he said he shortened their tour this summer to 7 nights from that experience. That tenth day in 2014 ended up working out well for Jones.
"What I told Mac that day was, 'You're a freshman going into your sophomore year. You can't take an opportunity like this for granted. You don't know what you can achieve? When's the next time you're going to be back in Morgantown, West Virginia with this great of an opportunity to make an impression this early in your career?'" Clark said.
Clark had been watching Jones compete at all of the previous stops along the way to West Virginia so his encouragement was more than a typical pep talk. He knew that Jones was impressing the coaches that had been evaluating him to that point, and he knew that West Virginia's staff would like Jones if they watched him throw.
Shannon Dawson was available to watch Jones throw that day. Jones was far from the only quarterback there that was hoping to make an impact. Clark remembers it being a "sizeable group" made up largely of rising seniors - and Jones, a second-semester freshman.
"Following camp Coach Dawson, who was then West Virginia's offensive coordinator, came and said that Mac was the best quarterback therethat day," Clark said. "That left a very strong impression on West Virginia and specifically Coach Dawson. I don't think very often a (rising) sophomore comes to camp and proves to be the best of an entire group of quarterback prospects."
As early as the recruitment of quarterbacks begins these days, things moved slowly for a while after that. Dawson had made it clear that Jones was a quarterback he would be keeping an eye out for, but there was no sense of urgency with a Class of 2017 prospect at the time. Late last year an assistant coach from West Virginia did stop by Jacksonville (Fla.) Bolles to check in on Jones and show the staff's interest.
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| Jones could be an ambassador for Kentucky in his home state of Florida. |
"I followed up with Coach Dawson in the spring time to let him know that Mac was getting ready to take over the starting job at Bolles for spring practice and to check in and see if he'd have the opportunity to get down to Bolles," Clark said. "Coach Dawson responded that he wanted to see Mac in camp this summer. Mac got his way up to Lexington and sure enough he threw well enough to where Coach Dawson decided to extend him an offer. That's how the connection was developed from the first bus tour -- from not wanting to throw at West Virginia to doing it and leaving an impression on Coach Dawson. Fast-forward and it's to Kentucky's benefit."
Clark doesn't seem surprised that Jones landed in the SEC. Having watched him compete at so many events he was confident that opportunities would come his way. At first the only thing standing between Jones and offers were things outside of his control, namely, his youth and the unknown that came with inexperience and the absence of much of a resume.
Some coaches were still taking a wait and see approach with Jones because of their own preferences but it's now clear that Dawson's thinking on Jones is right in line with Clark's.
"What Coach Dawson was really impressed with was Mac's release," Clark said. "Going back to him seeing Mac a year before at West Virginia, the thing that stood out was his release. He has not found many high school quarterbacks with as natural a throwing release. Mac throws an accurate football. Mac can make all the throws necessary to succeed. Mac is a bright guy and he continues to grow. He's over 6-foot-2 and weighs over 180 pounds now. Those numbers are only going to go up."
Clark said Jones realizes that continuing his physical development, getting bigger and adding strength are all necessities if he is to maximize his potential. Jones was praised for his footwork at such a young age at the IMG 7-on-7 he attended this summer, and Clark said that as Jones continues to improve in that area and improve his ability to 'stay stacked' he will incorporate his legs more into his throws, Clark said.
"Mac is only scratching the surface," Clark said with certainty.
Beyond his skills as a passer, which are rare not only for a player his age but especially for a player with so little starting experience at the high school level Jones has many of the intangibles and leadership qualities a coach wants in a quarterback.
"He's a fierce competitor," he said, pointing to Jones' desire to attend as many camps and exposure opportunities as possible. "He's a gamer. He wants to soak up all the knowledge he can. He's eager to learn. He's a determined young man. He wants to be the best quarterback in the SEC. He's got a lot of room to grow to get there but he's going to give it his all to achieve that."
Clark has an extensive professional history in the recruiting world and he knows about the importance of a quarterback commitment, not only in terms of a program's future but also in his role as leader of a recruiting class.
"Mac is a networker," Clark continued. "He's a guy that gets out for every competitive setting available. He's not afraid to interact and he's a very well-known guy in the state of Florida. You can rest assured he's going to be one of Kentucky's lead recruiters over the next two years. Kentucky's going to be very excited to see Mac's maturation as a quarterback and also to have him as an ambassador for the next two recruiting classes. He's knowledgeable for his age and understands the scope of being a Kentucky quarterback."
